In the hands of, say, Luc Sante, this tale of the London lowlife would have been gold. As it is, general readers should hold...
A tale of two crimes: the first, an endlessly juicy mystery that captivated England in the late 18th century; the second, the tragedy of that fascinating episode being done in by lifeless prose.
History profs Andrew (Univ. of Guelph) and McGowen (Univ. of Oregon) dredge up a sordid affair that figures in few standard histories of England, and one that begs to be turned into a film: two 40-something twin brothers fall under the spell of a skillful courtesan who enlists them in trying to pass off a forged bond; caught in the act, the brothers are nearly let off by their would-be victims but protest their innocence a little too loudly; enter the constabulary, the judiciary, and the hangman. The tale, open-and-shut in the eyes of the presiding judge, turns out to be a bit more complicated: in exploring the case of the brothers Perreau and the beguiling Mrs. Rudd, the authors call forth conflicting testimonies, contemporary newspaper accounts marked by a loose regard for the facts, and the political climate in a time of colonial revolt and widespread anti-Scottish and anti-Semitic sentiment, all of which had bearing on the outcome. Andrew and McGowen are careful researchers, and they do a good job of elucidating the social history of the time and some of the Rashomonish qualities of Perreau/Rudd affair. Ultimately, however, their bloodless exposition overcomes the inherent interest of the story: “Although newspaper accounts dominated discussion of the case, they were supplemented by the several versions of events that appeared in pamphlet form”; “Although publishers expressed a general commitment to fairness, objectivity, and honesty, the conditions of publication militated against their realization”; “The actions undertaken to bring Mrs. Rudd to trial struck some as an abuse of power loaded with disturbing consequences for society.” And so on, until it all becomes such a bitter chore to read that only the most dogged student of the era will persist to the index.
In the hands of, say, Luc Sante, this tale of the London lowlife would have been gold. As it is, general readers should hold out for the movie.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-520-22062-5
Page Count: 390
Publisher: Univ. of California
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2001
The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the...
Elie Wiesel spent his early years in a small Transylvanian town as one of four children.
He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions.
Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2006
ISBN: 0374500010
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Hill & Wang
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
The value of this book is the context it provides, in a style aimed at a concerned citizenry rather than fellow academics,...
A provocative analysis of the parallels between Donald Trump’s ascent and the fall of other democracies.
Following the last presidential election, Levitsky (Transforming Labor-Based Parties in Latin America, 2003, etc.) and Ziblatt (Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy, 2017, etc.), both professors of government at Harvard, wrote an op-ed column titled, “Is Donald Trump a Threat to Democracy?” The answer here is a resounding yes, though, as in that column, the authors underscore their belief that the crisis extends well beyond the power won by an outsider whom they consider a demagogue and a liar. “Donald Trump may have accelerated the process, but he didn’t cause it,” they write of the politics-as-warfare mentality. “The weakening of our democratic norms is rooted in extreme partisan polarization—one that extends beyond policy differences into an existential conflict over race and culture.” The authors fault the Republican establishment for failing to stand up to Trump, even if that meant electing his opponent, and they seem almost wistfully nostalgic for the days when power brokers in smoke-filled rooms kept candidacies restricted to a club whose members knew how to play by the rules. Those supporting the candidacy of Bernie Sanders might take as much issue with their prescriptions as Trump followers will. However, the comparisons they draw to how democratic populism paved the way toward tyranny in Peru, Venezuela, Chile, and elsewhere are chilling. Among the warning signs they highlight are the Republican Senate’s refusal to consider Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee as well as Trump’s demonization of political opponents, minorities, and the media. As disturbing as they find the dismantling of Democratic safeguards, Levitsky and Ziblatt suggest that “a broad opposition coalition would have important benefits,” though such a coalition would strike some as a move to the center, a return to politics as usual, and even a pragmatic betrayal of principles.
The value of this book is the context it provides, in a style aimed at a concerned citizenry rather than fellow academics, rather than in the consensus it is not likely to build.Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-6293-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2017
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